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PARTICIPLE PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY SENIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
ABSTRACT
This study is aimed at finding out the
participle problems encountered by senior secondary school students with a view
of solving the problems so found.
Teachers of
the English language and student in senior secondary schools in Nsukka Local
Government of Enugu State were used for this study.
Out of
thirty-two (32) secondary schools in this local government area, five schools
were used as target population.
A
well-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on the participle
problems encountered by student of English and possible ways in which the
teaching and learning of the participles can be improved in our schools.
The findings
revealed that the teaching and learning of participles is faced with numerous
problems in the target schools. Recommendation and possible solutions to the
problems were made.
Finally, a
suggestion was made for a similar research to be carried out in another part of
the state using a wider population and samples to compare the findings of this
study.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
English is
used as a first language in countries like Britain, Australia, Canada and New
Zealand. It is used as a second and official language in many of the former
British Colonies. Nigeria is one of such countries that use English as an
official language. The territories that make up Nigeria are made up of ethnic
groups of varying sizes, each with an extended speech community and a dominant
language – Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Edo, Efik among others.
According to
Uzozie (1992), “the origins of the English language in Nigeria are shrouded in
obscurity”
Spencer
(1971) wrote that
English was introduced into Nigeria by the
activities of Portuguese traders, the first Europeans that came to the West
Coast of Africa.
The
Portuguese spoke little English. Their interests were more in the area of
trade. However, as seamen and traders exchanged goods and services with local
people, there arose a need for a coherent system of communication. Anwosi
further remarks that
When English
challenged the monopoly of Portuguese traders‟ interests and finally ousted
them from the ancient Benin Kingdom, the Portuguese language was replaced with
English as the language of diplomacy and trade
The colonial
period witnessed the institutionalization of the English language learning in
Nigerian educational institutions.
European
officials had very poor impression of our native languages which to them were
neither extensive nor of high quality. There own language (English) was
therefore imposed on the people. Omelewa (1984) explains that
The missionaries
who came to
Badagry
near Lagos
in 1842 introduced English into
Nigeria.
Schools were opened
and pupils
were taught
in English language.
These missionaries came as a result of the
British attempts to suppress the trans-atlantic slave trade and replace it with
the civilizing mission of colonialism.
These
schools, churches and government institution were established to aid
in governing
the native Africans.
Crowder
(1966) reports that
In the late
1930s many freed slaves from
free town
came to their original homes in
Lagos and
Badagry.
Some of
these freed slaves had received formal education in English. Many of them were
later employed by missionaries, trading companies and British colonial
administrators as interpreters, messengers and teachers which gave greater
impetus to the spread of the English language in Nigeria.
The English
language in Nigeria has the status of a second language. The language has
acquired the new forms of manifestation in the multilingual Nigerian situation.
A diachronic
study of a language is a statement about changes that occurred over a period of
time in the life of that language. If language is seen as a product of history,
a diachronic study of the English language in Nigeria can hardly be studied in
isolation from its synchronic development.
Many of the
historical changes in the language are still observed in the present structure.
A valid diachronic analysis therefore should be used on an effective synchronic
(descriptive) study.
Statements
about linguistic change in Nigeria cannot be made without recourse to existing
descriptions of the language in at least two varieties of development: standard
and non standard usage.
Evidence
that the English in Nigeria has undergone certain changes can be found in old
manuscripts and written inscriptions. Synchronic linguistic is the state of a
language at a particular time. Ubahakwe (1979) citing an editorial in the
Journal of Nigerian English Studies Association maintains that
The
state of
the English Language is no
longer at a
cross roads in Nigeria. English
in Nigeria
connotes English as a second
language.
The
significant status assumed by the Nigerian variety of English makes it capable
of being seen as a dialect sub-set comparable to British, American and
Australia English among other dialect sub-sets.
Adetugo
(1984) opines that “the Nigerian variety which is called Nigerian English has
as much viability as other varieties of English”
A new
dialect has arisen as a result of the interplay between English and indigenous
languages spoken in Nigeria. English in Nigeria is categorized as either
standard (educated) or non-standard (uneducated) usage.
A large
number of English speakers in Nigeria are uneducated and these include those
who have little formal education and illiterates who are exposed to English in
communities where pidgin does not flourish. They are confronted with the
difficulties posed by errors in the use the language.
English,
apart from being the official language in Nigeria is also a second language and
it is therefore important for students in post primary schools to have good
knowledge of the English language generally and particularly the grammatical
aspect of the language in order to enhance effective use of the language. The
second system and structure forms the core of the language. The native speaker
acquires these as unconscious habits before he enters school.
This is not
the case with African child learning it as a second language.
Cliff (2000)
defines participles as “yet another verbal; a word derived from a verb”. There
are three verb forms in English that are known as verbals.
They are
participles, gerunds and infinitives. They belong to the group of verbs called
non-finite verbs.
They are
called verbal because they are derived from verbs and retain many of the
characteristics of the verb, a verbal can take any kind of modifier or
complement but cannot make a statement or act as a question. Very often, they
are used as pure adjectives‟ and are placed directly before the nouns they
modify. The following examples show the participle used as simple adjectives.
He conducts
a flourishing business (Here flourishing modifies business). When the
participle is used as a „predicative adjective it is found in the predicate and
modifies the subject as in the following illustrations. The game is exciting.
The book was
interesting.
The rumour
were starting
The
participles modify game, book and rumour and they are forms of verb. A better
understanding of participles will enable the students to differentiate between
verbal that act as adjectives, understand verbs- regular and irregular and
tenses.
As a result
of this, it must be accorded primary importance in any teaching endeavour.
Commenting on this point, O‟ cornor (1967) affirms that
It is well
known that a child of ten years old or less can learn a language perfectly if
he is brought up surrounded by that language, no matter where he was born or
who his parents are.
In spite of
the above axiom, the teaching and learning of English language in secondary
schools in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state is still being hindered
by numerous problems which are instrumental to poor performance in most
examinations. It is not strange that many users of English language are
deficient in the effective use of participles and this is enough evidence to
validate the claim that it is a problem area that demands great attention
especially as much work has not been done in this area.
1.2 Objective of the Study
The general
purpose of this study is to find out how the teaching and learning of
participles can be improved upon in our secondary schools. This research is
undertaken to get reliable information about the participle problems
encountered by senior secondary three students in the secondary schools in
Nsukka Urban of Enugu State.
The
researcher set out to study the participle problems encountered by students of
English, the constraints they face and possible ways of helping them.
To achieve
these goals, questionnaires containing relevant items were administered to the
students and teachers of the English language. This study is based on the
assumption that as second language learners students are bound to face
difficulties in learning the grammatical units of the language.
This study
is also aimed at finding out ways that students can best acquire the knowledge
of participles, ways in which teachers can teach participles and how these
students might be empowered to become more competent in the use of participles.
Since very little has been done in this area and since our students encounter
great difficulties in handling the participle, this research is therefore
design to explore this aspect of the verb.
1.3 Research Problem
Since very
little has been done in this area and since our students encounter great
difficulties in handling the participle. English is a second language to our
students and because of little provision made for the teaching of participles
on the school time table, it is therefore difficult for the students to make
effective use of participles in their written works. There is an overlap in the
verb which poses a problem to learners of English as a second language. The
present form of the verb ends in –ing and ed as the past form for regular
verbs.
Participles
which are derived from the verbs have their present and past forms as ordinary
verbs. The present participle form also ends in – ing and past participle form
ends in –ed for regular verbs and en, -t and other ways for the various
irregular verbs. This kind of similarity in form brings about difficulty in
differentiating between verbs (present and past tenses) and participles.
The problem
of teaching the participle is certainly not simplified by the fact that this
term is obviously a misnomer.
The student,
accustomed to present tenses which indicate present time and past participle
which indicates now present, now past, now future time… they insist on in
calling the participle in-ing present no matter, what time it happens to be
indicating. With all the problems encountered in teaching and learning of
participles, little research has been conducted in this area. The result is
that some of the teachers are not quite informed and since one cannot give what
one does not have; this study is designed to fill the yawning gap in order to
provide a reliable date for both the teachers and students.
1.4 Relevance of the Study
This study
is crucial because it is aimed at finding out the participles problems
encountered by senior secondary three students in Nsukka Local Government Area
of Enugu state.
The finding
will help the classroom teacher to be better informed about participles in
order to achieve the desired goals in teaching. It will be of immense benefit
to the students as they will have a better knowledge of what participles are
all about. It will also help them to differentiate between verbs, participles
and other verbal. It will also be of immense benefit to the government and
curriculum planers since it provides some reliable data for improving the
teaching and learning of participles and English language generally in
secondary schools in Nigeria. It may also serve as reference material to the
Faculty of Arts in the Nigerian universities. The result may be of great value
to the students as they will develop the right attitude towards English
language by dropping the „pidgin English‟ and adopting the English language for
their every day use. It may equally be of help to their parents and guardians
if they realize their own faults after reading this work and correct them
through suggestions proffered in this project.
1.5 Scope of the Study
This
research is based on identifying the problems of participles encountered by
senior secondary three students (SS3) in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu
State and ways in which teaching and learning of participles can be improved. A
casual look at the verb and other parts of speech whose operations involve the
participle will be done. In undertaking this study, relevant data will be
collected from secondary schools in Nsukka urban and other community secondary
schools in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.
1.6 Research Question
The research
questions include the following:
1. In what ways does insufficiency of
qualified English teachers pose problems to the teaching and learning of
participles?
2. How do misplaced and dangling participles
affect the students‟ performance in the use of English?
3. Does mother-tongue interference constitute
problems to the teaching and learning of participles?
4. To what extent does poor teaching method
affect the effective teaching and learning of participles?
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